Weighted exercise glove

ABSTRACT

A glove to be worn on the hands of persons, and particularly practicing pianists, to exercise their fingers by the lifting of weights applied so as to resist raising of each finger independently. A selectively replaceable weight is inserted into a rearwardly opening pocket overlying the terminal phalange of each finger. The opening of the pocket includes a margin free of attachment structure but constructed out of material which causes the free margin to be pulled tight against the glove when the glove is worn. Thus the weights are captured in their pockets when the glove is worn and are captured in their working positions by fitting into the depressions over the finger nails and against the raised and forwardly faced shoulders of skin tissue at the quick of the nails.

United States Patent 11 1 Fredenhagen WEIGHTED EXERCISE GLOVE [76]Inventor: Eva Redick Fredenhagen, 9861 Santa Monica Blvd., BeverlyHills, Calif. 90212 22 Filed: Feb. 20,1973

21 Appl. No.: 334,120

[52] U.S. Cl 272/67, 2/161 R, 84/468 [51] Int. Cl. G09b 15/06, A63b23/00 [58] Field Of Search 272/57 R, 57 D, 67, 81; 84/468; 2/159, 161 R,161 A, 160, 167, 168, 250

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 753,779 3/1904 Woodman 2/160757,041 4/1904 Hosfeld 272/67 2,187,987 l/l940 Sherrick 2/160 2,241,8335/1941 Waller 272/57 R 2,447,951 8/1948 Lindfelt 2/167 2,736,034 2/1956Fredenhagen et aL 2/161 R 3,600,716 8/1971 Berry 2/167 1451 Oct. 1, 19743,744,059 7/1973 Hayes 2/250 Primary ExaminerRichard C. PinkhamAssistant Examiner-R. T. Stouffer 5 7 ABSTRACT A glove to be worn on thehands of persons, and particularly practicing pianists, to exercisetheir fingers by the lifting of weights applied so as to resist raisingof each finger independently. A selectively replaceable weight isinserted into a rearwardly opening pocket overlying the terminalphalange of each finger. The opening of the pocket includes a marginfree of attachment structure but constructed out of material whichcauses the free margin to be pulled tight against the glove when theglove is worn. Thus the weights are captured in their pockets when theglove is worn and are captured in their working positions by fittinginto the depressions over the finger nails and against the raised andforwardly faced shoulders of skin tissue at the quick of the nails.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Fi ii's' WEIGHTED EXERCISE GLOVE The vocation of apianist calls for practice and exercise, and the piano is a percussiveinstrument which requires force to be applied by the fingers upon akeyboard and which operates an action that strikes the strings withhammers. Thus, the manual control and actuation of the piano keys andaction requires muscular ability and physical control, and all of whichmust be perfected. Heretofore, many arrangements have been contrived topromote the exercise and control of finger muscles, and among thesethere have been gloves in which the fingers are weighted, such asdisclosed in my Letters US. Pat. No. 2,736,034 issued Feb. 28, I956.Said patent teaches close-fitting sheaths encasing the finger tips andminiature weights as well, the sheath comprising a rubber coating.Despite the general practicality of my prior art Finger ExercisingGlove, there are features thereof which limit their use, which encumberthem and which make them difficult to manufacture. Firstly, the weightswere installed in such a way that they could not be changed. Secondly,the encasing sheaths of rubber over the finger tips altered and/ordestroyed the feel of the fingers upon the keys. And thirdly, theprocess of encasing the weights in rubber and simultaneously in placewas difficult, time consuming and consequently expensive.

In view of the desired effects resulting from the use of gloves weightedin the manner heretofore provided, it is a general object of thisinvention to extend their utility, to unencumber them and to facilitatetheir manufacture. With the present invention an improved exercise gloveis provided wherein; firstly the weights that are carried thereby areselectively replaceable, se-

condly the rubber encasements are eliminated and a direct feel through asingle layer of material is restored, and thirdly a single added featureis applied to the glove which is otherwise conventional and unaltered.Consequently, any suitable glove design and/or manufacturing techniquecan be employed with the added feature characterized by a pocketoverlying each finger tip.

An object of this invention is to provide a glove with a single featureof minimum complexity and which affords several improvements, namely toprovide for selective replaceability of weights, to eliminate prior artencumbrances, and to facilitate manufacturing. In accordance with thepresent invention, a pocket overlies the dorsal side of each finger inthe area of the third row of phalanges, including the thumb. That is, apocket overlies the terminal phalange and in each instance a pocket thatis closed at its outer end of the finger and opened toward the back ofthe hand.

Another object of this invention is to provide a glove of the type underconsideration wherein the feel required for the development of dexterityis not impaired any more than necessary; and to this end a tight fittingsupple glove is employed and which clings to the hand. In accordancewith the invention, the pockets that carry the weights are tightconstrictive pockets fitting onto the said weights when the glove is onthe hand of the person, but otherwise loose when the glove is removedfrom the hand. The latter condition supplies accessibility for selectivereplacement of weights. Further, the operative position of the weight isin each instance assured by its complementary fit within the tightlyconstrictive pocket and against the contour of the persons finger asestablished by the depression of uniform convexity and defined by theconfining shoulder established by the flesh at the quick. Thus, theweights are assuredly captured in working position and are not looseduring finger exercises.

DRAWINGS The various objects and features of this invention will befully understood from the following detailed description of the typicalpreferred form and application thereof, throughout which descriptionreference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a back view of the weighted glove.

FIG. 2 is a palm view of the weighted glove.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section of a finger tip and taken as indicated byline 33 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a section taken as indicated by line4-4 in FIG. 3.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A right-hand glove is shown disassociated from thehand of a person, except in FIG. 3 where the fingernail depression andshoulder of the quick is shown, and it is to be understood that aleft-hand glove is also provided as a mirror opposite of that which isshown. Generally, the glove involves a back piece 10, a palm piece 11and a thumb piece 12. It is preferred that the glove be tight fittingand is therefore made of kidskin or the like which is a supple andpliant leather that can be stretched onto the hand. Also, it ispreferred that the glove be adapted to variations in hand size, in whichcase the pieces l0, l1 and 12 are joined into the glove formation byelastic webs, there being an elastic web 13 coextensive with the insideof the thumb piece 12, and there being an elastic web 14 coextensivewith both sides of the remaining four fingers, the inside web of theindex finger and the outside web of the little finger continuing to thewrist. The webs l3 and 14 are, in practice, made of a stretchabletextile such as jersey or the like. The finger tips of each back pieceand palm piece are sewn together and the webs 13 and 14 are sewncoextensively to the pieces between which they extend. The thumb piece12 is sewn into an elongated opening in the palm piece 11 and inalignment with the index finger portion thereof, both the back piece 10and palm piece 11 having extended finger portions for each of thefingers but the thumb. Each finger therefore, including the thumb, hasan anterior and a dorsal side comprised of a single uninterrupted layerof material, such as for example a thin layer of supple leather.

In accordance with the invention, a pocket 20 of supple and pliantleather is secured to each finger top of the glove, the pockets beingsewn along both sides and around the tip of each extended fingerportion, including the thumb. The pockets 20 overlie the fingerextensions of the back piece lll coextensive with the third row of, orterminal, phalanges, and open rearwardly at the dorsal side of thefinger and toward the back or wrist of the hand. The free margin of thepocket is reinforced by a rope stitch 21 that is substantiallynonstretchable. In practice, the termination of the pocket 20 andlocation of the stitch 21 is at or overlying the The weights 30 arepreferably of heavy metal of concavo-convex configuration and eachadapted to overlie the dorsal side of a third, or terminal, phalange.The weights 30 are elongated solids each with a cylindrically concavedinner face 31 that fits over the dorsal side of the finger between thetip of the nail, overlying the nail, and the joint of the second andthird phalanges. The exterior face 32 is convexly curved (compound) fromthe ovular perimeter of the weight to give it a domed configuration.Thus, the weight 30 of solid metal such as lead ranges from 1/8 to 3/4of an ounce as circumstances require. Normally, a 1/4 ounce weight isfirst employed, followed by use of increased weights as and whenmuscular development is attained. However, in no case does excessiveweight benefit the exerciser and it is significant that the use ofuniform weights is commensurate with the uniformity in action of thekeys which are activated during exercising.

In carrying out the invention, a set of weights 30 of uniform size isinserted into the loose pockets 20 of the glove before wearing. Thefaces 31 are opposed to the dorsal sides of the fingers and upon thethird phalange portion of the finger extremity of the back piece 11. Theweights more or less fill the pockets and are inserted well ahead of thereinforcing rope stitch 21. The gloves are then pulled onto the hand ofthe person and stretched comfortably tight, whereupon the weights arecaptured forwardly of the rope stitch 21 and tightly within theconfinements of the pockets 20 which too are stretched over the weights.The thickened flesh at the quick of the fingernail builds up toward thefirst knuckle and faces forwardly, this flesh being higher than thecontour of the fingernail, establishing a shoulder that is inclined andinherently urges the weights forwardly toward the finger tips.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a very practical glove isprovided and wherein simple pockets of supple material give way to thevariations in size of weights that are to be selectively insertedtherein; that the weights are easily insertable when the gloves areremoved from the hands; and that the weights are immovably retained inworking condition over the dorsal side of the finger when the gloves areworn. The facility of manufacture is in accord with techniques normallyemployed in the making of gloves, and there are no encumbering featuresto adversely affect the normal feel of the keys through the single layerof material at the anterior side of the finger tips.

Having described only a typical preferred form and application of myinvention, I do not wish to be limited or restricted to the specificdetails herein set forth, but wish to reserve to myself anymodifications or variations that may appear to those skilled in the art.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A weighted exercising glove fitted to the hand and including joinedback and palm pieces with individual finger enclosing extensions and athumb enclosing piece extending from the palm piece and in alignmentwith the first adjacent finger enclosing extension, 21 rearwardlyopening pocket overlying the dorsal side of the third and terminalphalange portion of each finger enclosing extension of the back pieceand including the dorsal side of the thumb enclosing piece, the openingof each pocket being defined by a margin free of attachment meansconnecting the extension and the pocket thereof, which margin is pulledtight onto the dorsal side of the glove extension whenever the glove isworn by a user, there being a selective weight replaceably inserted intoeach pocket when the glove is removed from the hand of a user andcaptured therein by said margin to overlie the terminal phalange at suchtime as the glove is worn by a user.

2. The weight exercising glove as set forth in claim 1 and wherein thepockets are of supple and stretchable material and each with asubstantially nonstretchable free margin to pull tight onto the dorsalside of the glove extension, closing the pocket and thereby capturingthe weight therein.

3. The weight exercising glove as set forth in claim 1 and wherein theselective weights are concavo-convex and of elongated configuration witha cylindrically convex inner wall to fit upon the dorsal side of theterminal phalange and with a convex compound curved exterior.

4. The weight exercising glove as set forth in claim 1 and wherein theselective weights are concave-convex and of elongated configurationsubstantially coextensive with the longitudinal extent of the terminalphalange of each finger and thumb.

5. The weight exercising glove as set forth in claim 1 and wherein theselective weights are concavo-convex and of elongated configurationsubstantially coextensive with the longitudinal extent of the terminalphalange of each finger and thumb and with a cylindrically concave innerwall to fit upon the dorsal side of the terminal phalange and with aconvex compound curved exterior.

6. The weight exercising glove as set forth in claim 1, wherein theselective weights are concavo-convex and of elongated configurationsubstantially coextensive with the longitudinal extent of the terminalphalange of each finger and thumb and with a cylindrically concave innerwall to fit upon the dorsal side of the terminal phalange and with aconvex compound curved exterior, and wherein the pockets are of suppleand stretchable material and each with a substantially nonstretchablefree margin to pull tight onto the dorsal side of' the glove extension,closing the pocket and thereby captur ing the weight therein.

1. A weighted exercising glove fitted to the hand and including joinedback and palm pieces with individual finger enclosing extensions and athumb enclosing piece extending from the palm piece and in alignmentwith the first adjacent finger enclosing extension, a rearwardly openingpocket overlying the dorsal side of the third and terminal phalangeportion of each finger enclosing extension of the back piece andincluding the dorsal side of the thumb enclosing piece, the opening ofeach pocket being defined by a margin free of attachment meansconnecting the extension and the pocket thereof, which margin is pulledtight onto the dorsal side of the glove extension whenever the glove isworn by a user, there being a selective weight replaceably inserted intoeach pocket when the glove is removed from the hand of a user andcaptured therein by said margIn to overlie the terminal phalange at suchtime as the glove is worn by a user.
 2. The weight exercising glove asset forth in claim 1 and wherein the pockets are of supple andstretchable material and each with a substantially nonstretchable freemargin to pull tight onto the dorsal side of the glove extension,closing the pocket and thereby capturing the weight therein.
 3. Theweight exercising glove as set forth in claim 1 and wherein theselective weights are concavo-convex and of elongated configuration witha cylindrically convex inner wall to fit upon the dorsal side of theterminal phalange and with a convex compound curved exterior.
 4. Theweight exercising glove as set forth in claim 1 and wherein theselective weights are concavo-convex and of elongated configurationsubstantially coextensive with the longitudinal extent of the terminalphalange of each finger and thumb.
 5. The weight exercising glove as setforth in claim 1 and wherein the selective weights are concavo-convexand of elongated configuration substantially coextensive with thelongitudinal extent of the terminal phalange of each finger and thumband with a cylindrically concave inner wall to fit upon the dorsal sideof the terminal phalange and with a convex compound curved exterior. 6.The weight exercising glove as set forth in claim 1, wherein theselective weights are concavo-convex and of elongated configurationsubstantially coextensive with the longitudinal extent of the terminalphalange of each finger and thumb and with a cylindrically concave innerwall to fit upon the dorsal side of the terminal phalange and with aconvex compound curved exterior, and wherein the pockets are of suppleand stretchable material and each with a substantially nonstretchablefree margin to pull tight onto the dorsal side of the glove extension,closing the pocket and thereby capturing the weight therein.